Filing case for business forms



! Feb. 8, 1966 J- H. LOGAN FILING CASE FOR BUSINESS FORMS Filed Feb. 23,1962 INVENTOR. \Am W A T TORIVEYS United States Patent 3,233,612 FILINGCASE FOR BUSINESS FORMS John H. Logan, Feelrs Lane, Locust Valley, N.Y.Filed Feb. 23, 1962, Ser. No. 175,222 Claims. (Cl. 12916) This inventionrelates to filing equipment for cards, and more especially to equipmentin which cards are filed between separators and with provision forrocking the cards to open a space in front of any card in the file tomake that card visible for inspection or to facilitate the removal ofthe card for copying.

It is an object of the invention to provide an improved filing case ofthe character indicated, and more especially to provide an improvedfiling case which is especially compact and suitable for use as aportable file.

One feature of the invention relates to end walls of the filing casewith provision for swinging the end walls into diverging relation withone another to permit a wider angle of swinging movement of the cardsand their separators when the filing case is in use. This wallconstruction folds to reduce the dimensions of the filing case when inclosed condition.

Another object of the invention is to provide a simplified constructionfor a filing case, and one in which similar guide units are assembled tomake up a composite inside construction for holding rows of cards withthe cards of the different rows separated from one another.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will appear orbe pointed out as the description proceeds.

In the drawing, forming a part hereof, in which like referencecharacters indicate corresponding parts in all the views:

FIGURE 1 is an isometric view of a portable filing case made inaccordance with this invention;

FIGURE 2 is a diagrammatic sectional view on the plane 22 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a greatly enlarged sectional view taken on the plane 33 ofFIGURE 1, but showing the file in its open condition;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged, fragmentary, detail view taken on the line 4-4of FIGURE 3; and

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentaiy sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of FIGURE3.

The filing case shown in the drawing has a flat bottom and front andback walls 11 and 12. The front wall 11 has a lower portion .14 whichslopes forwardly at an acute angle to the bottom 10; and has an upperportion 16 which is preferably at right angles to the plane of thebottom 1d when the filing case is in closed condition, as shown inFIGURE 1.

The back wall 12 has a lower portion 18 which slopes rearwardly at anacute angle to the bottom 10. Thus the lower portions 14 and 18 of thefront and back walls 11 and 12, respectively, diverge from one another.In the preferred construction this angle of divergence is within therange of about 40 to 46 and in the illustrated con struction isapproximately 40 degrees. The back Wall 12 has an upper portion 20 whichcorresponds to the upper portion 16 of the front wall 11. The filingcase has end walls 22. The lower portions 14 and 18 of the front andback walls, respectively, and the end walls 22 and part of the bottom 10are preferably of one-piece construction and made of sheet metal.

The filing case has a top 24 connected to the upper portion 29 of theback wall 12 by a hinge 26 (FIGURE 3) which is preferably a piano-typehinge. The top 24 swings on the hinge 26 to a wide open position thatleaves the upper part of the filing case completely unobstructed, asshown in FIGURE 3.

The upper portion 16 of the front wall 11 is connected with the lowerportion 14 by a piano-type hinge 28; and the upper portion 20 of theback wall 12 is similarly connected to the lower portion 18 by apiano-type hinge 30. These hinges 28 and 30 are located on the inside ofthe front and back walls 11 and 12, respectively, and the lower edges ofthe upper portions of the walls swing into contact with the upper edgesof the lower portions 14 and 18 to limit the outwardly-swinging movementof the upper portions 16 and 20. This limited movement leaves the upperportion of the walls in substantial alignment with the lower portions,as illustrated in FIGURE 3.

The upper portion 16 of the front wall 11 has a flange 32 at one end, asshown in FIGURE 4. This flange 32 overlaps the outside of the end wall22. Another flange 34, comprising one leg of an angle 36, overlaps theinside surface of the end wall 22. The spacing between the flanges 32and 34 is slightly greater than the thickness of the end wall 22 toprovide free running clearance between the flanges 32 and 34 and thesurface of the end wall 22.

There are similar flanges 32 and 34 at the other end of the front wall11, and on both ends of the back wall 12. These flanges extend forsubstantially the full height of the movable portions 16 and 2% of thefront and back walls between the hinges 2.8 and 3i) and the bottom edgeof the cover 24.

There is a skirt portion around all four sides of the cover 24 and thisskirt portion overlaps the upper ends of the front walls 11 and I2 andthe end wall 22-. In the illustrated construction, there are offset edgeportions 42 at the upper ends of the two walls ll. and I2 and both ofthe end walls 22 to facilitate the closing of the cover 24- over thewalls of the filing case.

There is a latch and lock .6 located partly on the front wall 11 andpartly on the cover 24 for holding the cover in closed position. Thislatch and lock are of conventional construction and no furtherdescription of them is necessary for a complefe understanding of thisinvention. There is a handle 4-8 attached to the cover 24 by bracketshaving pivots 4). This construction is also conventional.

FIGURES 3 and 5 show the construction of the bottom 10. Part of it isformed by flanges 56 which extend inwardly from the front, back and endwalls of the case. The remainder of the bottom It) is formed by a panel58 which overlaps the flanges 56 and which is integrally connected tothese flanges, preferably by spot welding. The ends of the panels 5% areturned up to form side guides 60. There is an angle 62 having itshorizontal leg secured to the bottom panel 58 and having its verticalleg formed with saw-toothed extensions 64. The depressions between thesesaw teeth reach all the way to the horizontal leg of the angle 62 andthe angles between confronting faces of adjacent saw-tooth extensionsare preferably equal to the angle of divergence of the front and backWalls 11 and 12 from one another.

Separators 66 have end portions 68 which extend down into thedepressions between the saw-tooth extensions 64. Each of the separators66 has a flange 7%) at both ends and these flanges 7t? have studs '72which serve as axles for rollers '74 located in position to strikeagainst the face of the next adjacent separator 66. In simplifiedconstructions of the invention, the rollers 74 may be fixed so that theyare knobs on the axles 72 but not capable of rotation.

These rollers '7 or knobs hold the upper ends of the separators 66 atthe same spacing from one another as the spacing at which the lower endsof the separators 66 are held by the saw-tooth extensions 64.

The flanges 7t) of the separators 66 fit between the sawtooth extensions64 and the side guides 6%. This clearance, best shown in FIGURE 5, isonly slightly more than the thickness of the flanges 'itl so that theside faces of the saw-tooth etxensions 64, and the confronting face ofthe side guide 69, hold the flanges "it? parallel to the side guides 69.This prevents transverse bending of the separators 6-6.

Within the filing case there are card holders 80 consisting ofbottomless boxes, each having a front wall 81, a rear wall 82, a sidewal 83 (FIGURE and another side wall 84. The walls 81 and 82 divergefrom one another at the same angle as the lower portions 14 and 18 ofthe front and back walls, and these walls 81 and 82 contact with theinside surfaces of these front and back Walls and are connected to them,as by spot welding.

In the filing case illustrated in the drawing, there are four cardholders 843. Each of the side walls 84 has a turned-over upper edgeportion 85 that covers the upper end of the side wall 83 when there isanother card holder 8t) next to the Wall 84. The lower ends (FIGURE 5)of the side walls 83 and 8d are bent outwardly and these outwardly-bentends contact with one another to space the lower ends of the cardholders 83 from one another. The side walls 83 and 84 of adjacent cardholders can be secured to one another by spot welding but this is notordinarily necesary when the front wall 31 or the rear wall 82 issecured to a front or rear wall of the filing case.

The walls $1, 82, 83 and 34 of the card holders can be made to reach tothe bottom panel 53, but in the preferred construction, illustrated inthe drawing (FIGURE 5), these walls 81, S2, 83 and 84 terminate a shortdistance above the panel 58.

Cards (shown in broken lines in FIGURES 2 and 3), rest on an element 92that covers the panel 58 at the bottom of each of the card holders 89.The purpose of this element 92 is to provide a rough surface at thebottom of each card so that the card will swing angularly, as differenceseparators and cards are swung to open the contents of the file atditfercnt places, without having the card slide on the bottom of thefiling case.

This element 5*2 preferably consists of flocked fibers or rayon velour.Usually the flocked fibers or velour are held in place by adhesive 94 ora sheet having both its upper lower surfaces coated with adhesive. Theelement 92 is of a thickness sufficient to support the bottom edges ofthe cards at the same level as the bottom edges of the separators sothat the axes about which the separators and the cards move, as theyswing angularly, are in the same plane. This results in minimum wear ofthe cards during extended use of the filing case.

The separators as have cut-outs 96 that provide ample clearance for thesides of the card holders and throughout the entire range of angularmovement of the separators. The sides 83 and 84 of adjacent card holdersform partitions extending for the full front-to-back inside dimension ofthe filing case. These partitions terminate below the level of thehinges 28 and 3%).

Above the cut-outs 9d, the separators 66 are continuous in extent fromone side of the filing case to the other, and the flanges 7d at bothsides of each of the separators has a running clearance from the flangesof the angles 35.

The preferred embodiment has been illustrated and described, but changesand modifications can be made and some features can be used in differentcombinations without departing from the invention as described in theclaims.

What is claimed is:

1. A portable filing cabinet having front, back, bottom and side wallsenclosing a chamber of substantially greater width from side-to-sidethan depth from front to back, each of the front and back walls havingupper and lower portions, partitions extending from the lower portion ofthe front wall to the lower portion of the back wall and extendingupward from the bottom for a distance greater than one-half of thefore-and-aft dimension of the chamber, each of the front and back wallshaving their lower portions in fixed relation to the partitions and tothe bottom and side walls and extending upwardly and outwardly from thebottom for substantially the height of the partitions and being at anangle to the bottom within the range of about to 113, the upper portionsof each of the front and back walls being hinged to the upper end of thelower portion of that wall and being angularly movable between avertical position and an outwardly flaring position in substantialalignment with the fixed lower portion, means limiting the angularmovement of said upper portions between said positions, a cover hingedto the top of the back wall, and a handle on the cover extending in thedirection of the longer dimension of the cabinet.

2. The portable filing cabinet described in claim 1 characterized by thepartitions being at transversely spaced locations across the chamber anddividing the chamber into a group of card compartments, the partitionsthat are at opposite sides of the group of card compartments beingspaced from corresponding side walls of the cabinet by distancessubstantially less than the widths of any one of the card compartmentsand forming with the side walls side compartments, separators forlocation between groups of cards, the separators being continuous acrossthe width of the plurality of card compartments and across said sidecompartments at a level above the partitions, said separators havingdifferent portions extending downwardly into the different cardcompartments, and terminating above the bottoms of the cardcompartments, supports for the separators located in the sidecompartments and having notched edge portions with the bottom surfacesof the successive notches providing bearings for separators, saidseparators having other portions beyond the portions that extend intothe different card compart ments, that extend downward into said sidecompartments and into contact with the bottom surfaces of the notches,said bottom surfaces of the notches being at the level of the bottoms ofthe card compartments on which the cards are supported, said otherportions of the separators having angular movement in the notches andbeing confined against other movement by sides of the notches.

3. The filing cabinet described in claim 2, and in which the supportshave saw tooth notches and the bottom surfaces are in the spaces betweenthe saw teeth, and there are abutments at the upper ends of theseparators for spacing the card-contacting areas of the separators fromone another by the same distance as the lower ends of the separators arespaced from one another by the spacing of the saw teeth.

4. The filing cabinet described in claim 3, and in which the saw teethare formed on an upwardly extending leg of an angular section that hasanother and horizontally extending leg attached to the bottom of thecabinet, and there are rough coverings over the bottom under each cardcompartment supporting the bottoms of the cards in the holder at thesame level as the surfaces in the saw tooth depressions on which theseparators rest and on which the separators swing angularly forward andaft to expose different groups of cards to View.

5. The portable filing cabinet described in claim 1 characterized by theupper portions of the front and back walls having lower edges inposition to abut against the upper edges of the lower portions of thefront and back walls to limit the extent to which said upper portionsswing away from one another when moving into their divergingrelationship, said lower edge constituting the means limiting theangular movement of said upper portions as they move toward theiroutwardly flaring positions.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS Scoville 129-16JEROME SCHNALL,

Berndt 129-16 Thompson 129-16 Bellis H 129-16 Bosse 129-16 Weston 129-16Nabholz 129-26 X FOREIGN PATENTS Australia. France.

Great Britain. Great Britain. Great Britain. Great Britain. Germany.Switzerland.

Primary Examiner.

1. A PORTABLE FILLING CABINET HAVING FRONT, BACK, BOTTOM AND SIDE WALLSENCLOSING A CHAMBER OF SUBSTANTIALLY GREATER WIDTH FROM SIDE-TO-SIDETHAN DEPTH FROM FRONT TO BACK, EACH OF THE FRONT AND BACK WALLS HAVINGUPPER AND LOWER PORTIONS, PARTITIONS EXTENDING FROM THE LOWER PORTION OFTHE FRONT WALL OF THE LOWER PORTION OF THE BACK WALL AND EXTENDINGUPWARD FROM THE BOTTOM FOR A DISTANCE GREATER THAN ONE-HALF OF THEFORE-AND-AFT DIMENSION OF THE CHAMBER, EACH OF THE FRONT AND BACK WALLSHAVING THEIR LOWER PORTIONS IN FIXED RELATION TO THE PARTITIONS AND TOTHE BOTTOM AND SIDE WALLS AND EXTENDING UPWARDLY AND OUTWARDLY FROM THEBOTTOM FOR SUBSTANTIALLY THE HEIGHT OF THE PARTITIONS AND BEING AT ANANGLE TO THE BOTTOM WITHIN THE RANGE OF ABOUT 110* TO 113*, THE UPPERPORTIONS OF EACH OF THE FRONT AND BACK WALLS BEING HINGED TO THE UPPEREND OF THE LOWER PORTION OF THAT WALL AND BEING ANGULARLY MOVABLEBETWEEN A VERTICAL POSITION AND AN OUTWARDLY FLARING POSITION INSUBSTANTIAL ALIGNMENT WITH THE FIXED LOWER PORTION, MEANS LIMITING THEANGULAR MOVEMENT OF SAID UPPER PORTIONS BETWEEN SAID POSITIONS, A COVERHINGED TO THE TOP OF THE BACK WALL, AND A HANDLE ON THE COVER EXTENDINGIN THE DIRECTION OF THE LONGER DIMENSION OF THE CABINET.